Spring Breakers Reviews

To be honest, I thought it was rather difficult to judge this movie. Indeed, on one hand, half of it was fairly interesting but,  on the other hand, the other half was pretty much some exploitative garbage. And, yet, maybe that was the whole point of Harmony Korine, to make a movie which was really trashy and even pretty bad. In this case, the damned thing was actually successful but was it really something interesting to watch? I'm not so sure. It is like the title, I thought it was rather misleading. Indeed, at least a 3rd of the movie had nothing to do with spring break as it was about the girls getting acquainted with some gangster played by James Franco who gave here his weirdest performance so far. Concerning the 3 most famous girls of the group (Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson), I thought it was pretty obvious that they didn't care much for the material and that they got involved mostly to shake up their squeaky clean image. Would it have been better if they had made something more straightforward? Once again, I have my doubts. Furthermore, it didn't help that the characters would keep repeating their lame dialogues as if they were some kind of mantras. Anyway, to conclude, I'm still not sure what to make of the damned thing and even though I didn't care much for it, I guess it is still worth a look, especially if you don't mind to watch something really trashy.

disturbing...
I feel like they took videos of MTV's Spring Break and showed all the horrid crap that goes on. I'm so happy when I was growing up... this shit didn't exist to this extent.

I tried hard but this movie won't let me dislike it.

The movie was about the teenagers especially the girls who choose the life they wanted with unlawful and freedom over the boring regular one. The movie was kinda new age culture of the young teenage girls which tells they are nothing less than the any gangster and smuggling men.

It was a totally different experience to watch the movie. All the four girls were good but it was shocking to see cute Disney girl Selena Gomes in this avatar (I can see why she broke up with Bieber).

The movie was presented with a flashy style cinematography with good background musical score and many tracks were very nice and even some of them were hot and sexy in lyrics. But I liked the end credit song 'Lights' by Ellie Goulding.

And finally how can I forget to mention James Franco as an Alien, He was fantastic especially his metal teeth. Usually he's more like a chocolate boy with his smile who did justice to his role in the movie to fulfill the masculine part of the story. I must Warn this movie is too sexy and hot to handle by the parenting audience.

Watched November 9th

Harmony Korine's latest film resembles an obnoxious over-the-top music video for a Lil Wayne track.
This seems to be the look he was going for and the film is certainly successful at looking repulsive.

In terms of the films' characters, he has created a bunch of naive, brainless girls who think getting screwed-up for spring break is the perfect way to discover oneself. Whether he's being critical of this type of attitude or not I'm not sure because he seems to revel in it at times.

These characters are irritating and the story is completely ridiculous. I was actually embarrassed by how awful it was.

I really loved some of the cinematography and direction but the jump around editing did not work for this film. I have enjoyed in fact loved films that have used this technique before but for this film it got boring and old very quickly. It felt far to 'try-hard' and the script was just awful. It even made James Franco seem like quite a bad actor. I mean he played what he was meant to be well but it just felt awkward. If I hadn't seen or heard of him before I would have thought he was a pretty bad actor, personally. Also Ashley Benson (from what I've seen of her before) is quite good but I didn't like her at all in this. For Selena and Vanessa I have only seen some of their classic Disney bits and I'm not a fan or HSM or WOWP so I can't really comment on comparison. I haven't watched it all yet so perhaps I shouldn't judge but it just got too old(I got to around where Faith left). I might try again but I'm not in any rush to try.

Even if the editing style disturbs, I love some of the greatest images of recent years: the 3 pretty demons with their pink 'headgloves' near James Franco's piano; rhe girls, plus disturbed Selena, coming leaving the prison form the carport, and Franco listing all he has.

One of the greatest films of the year. This movie is simply poetic. This movie has really cool looked. I found my self laughing out loud more than I should of. James franco is the star of the movie, delivering his best comedic performance to date. Beware that viewers should be ready for a ride. This is not your typical movie with a plot line, hero, villain. It does not try to be anything its not. The cast is great and I found the screen hard to take my eyes off of. A must watch for any fan of film who likes unusual films. Great time!

I don't really know what to think about this one. I really liked the camera and overall feeling of the film, but I felt that the film got pretty repetitive at times, and it when it was going good it lost its focus and started to drift back into "alrightness".

The acting was both good and bad, same with the music. The little story that was there was okey I guess, even thought the film would have benefited with more "story" and less improvisation.

6.5/10

"I'm starting to think this is the most spiritual place I've ever been."

Spring Breakers represents the exact type of audacious cinematic vision that we do not see enough of in the 21st Century. It's a uniquely breathtaking experience from director Harmony Korine, one of the finest movies you will see this year and undoubtedly the most polarising. The rather limp box office performance is unsurprising, as Spring Breakers will not appeal to all viewers. Some will hate the flick, perceiving it as a flashy gimmick since it features former Disney stars in risqué roles. Others will simply see it as empty, hedonistic exploitation, unable (or unwilling) to pierce the dense veneer of gaudy depravity on the surface to see the real film underneath. Korine's film is an uncompromising snapshot of our modern culture, capturing and even critiquing the allure of a modern spring break excursion while presenting an unpredictable story that veers into dark territory. It's a culture-defining film, and it almost defies explanation.

Bored out of their minds at college, friends Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Cotty (Rachel Korine) and Brit (Ashley Benson) yearn to join the spring break festivities in Florida and hope to bring along their Christian classmate, Faith (Selena Gomez), for the ride. Lacking the necessary funds to travel, the girls rob a local chicken shop with water pistols and hammers to acquire cash, and soon, they're en route to Florida for the best week of their lives. The four ladies are eventually arrested for drug possession, but they're unexpectedly bailed out by drug-dealing thug Alien (James Franco), who aspires to become King of Florida. Alien takes the girls under his wing, seeking to make the young ladies part of his harem.

The narrative more or less plays out like an extended music video montage; Korine fills the screen with a kaleidoscope of colours and images, often disregarding coherency as scenes and events blur into one another. There is not much of an underlying plot here, and there's a certain aimlessness to the proceedings, yet Korine never lets the picture out of his control, refusing to let it transform into a meandering mess. The filmmaker has the good sense to keep Spring Breakers trim and tight, with the door closing at around the 90-minute mark before the assortment of hallucinatory visuals outstays its welcome. Indeed, there are very few dead spots throughout the feature, as it maintains its energy and continues to display heightened creativity. If a less dexterous director were in the driving seat, the film would grow tedious after the first five minutes.

Spring Breakers especially comes to life during the party sequences, when Korine's camera hypnotically swirls around to capture the dubstep-fuelled insanity of hot youths consuming alcohol and drugs. For a while, Korine provides a rowdy, context-free walking tour through the types of insane debauchery that run rampant during spring break, which is enthralling to watch. The technical specs are first-rate, with the energetic cinematography by Benoît Debie (shooting on 35mm film) and the propulsive score by Cliff Martinez and dubstep outfit Skrillex creating pure audio-visual poetry. When Alien arrives about 40 minutes into the show, Spring Breakers becomes darker and more frenetic as the wannabe rapper gives the girls access to the real party. At first, it looks as if Korine will travel down a clichéd route and eventually reveal Alien as a scheming, murderous predator, making the girls realise they should've listened to their mothers. But Spring Breakers is too intelligent for that, and what follows is wholly unexpected.

Franco abandons his usual slacker persona entirely here to disappear into the role of Alien, and it's a performance that will change people's overall impression of the actor. It's an astonishingly well-judged turn from Franco, the type that steals scenes and earns Oscars. Who knew Franco had such acting gusto within him? Spring Breakers has been especially provocative because it features former Disney Channel girls in grown-up roles. Indeed, we get to see Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens in various stages of undress and intoxication. But their acting goes beyond the surface novelty of seeing formerly good girls acting bad; the ladies are fantastic here, delivering nuanced performances that feel completely unforced and demonstrate their ability to undertake mature roles. Ditto for Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine (the director's wife), who are every bit as brilliant as their co-stars. Korine's lavish images would've been null unless they were supported by strong actors; fortunately, his ensemble is up to the task of carrying the film.

Regardless of what you think of it, Spring Breakers will likely go down as one of 2013's most important and vital works, as it embodies the exact culture and moment in time when it was produced. The only reason I did not award the film a higher grade is due to how frank, brutal and repulsive it is. This is admittedly a strength since it pulls no punches, but there is not much replay value. That's about the only thing there is to say about Spring Breakers that's remotely negative. It's hard to predict any individual's reaction to this movie, but in my eyes, it's an immersive phantasmagoria that deserves to be seen by a wide audience.

8.2/10